Abstract
Plant species that arrive first in the system can affect assembly (priority effects). However, effects of order of arrival of different plant functional groups (PFGs) on root development have not yet been investigated under field conditions. We measured standing and fine root length density in the first and third year of a grassland field experiment. We wanted to know if manipulating PFG order of arrival would affect root development, and if priority effects are modulated by soil type. Sowing legumes first created a priority effect that was found in the first and third year, with a lower standing root length density in this treatment, even though the plant community composition was different in each of the studied years. Fine root length density was not affected by order of arrival, but changed according to the soil type. Synthesis. We found strong evidence that sowing legumes first created a priority effect below-ground that was found in the first and third year of this field experiment, even though the functional group dominance was different in each of the studied years.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 774-780 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Ecology |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society
Funding
Many thanks to all those who helped to set up the Priority Effect experiment, especially Marlene Mueller, Edelgard Schoelgens and Agnes Höltkemeier. We are also thankful to Charlotte ?ietrich, Ana Robles Aguilar, ?aniela B. Leal, Leonardo Collier, Marcel Schneider, Katharina Pick, Marco Brandel and Sarah Becker who helped to sample the ingrowth cores in the field and also with root washing. A huge thanks to Sabine Klein who helped to obtain the root length data of 2012, and Leonie Meder, Rafael Weidlich and Anna Lütje for the root data in 2014. We also thank Andreas Burkart for providing the photo for the graphical abstract. This research was funded by IBG2 (Plant Science) Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, as well as by CNPq Brazil (Ciência Sem Fronteiras Program) with the Ph? scholarship of E.W.A.W.
| Funders |
|---|
| Forschungszentrum Jülich |
| Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico |
Keywords
- below-ground productivity
- facilitation
- historical contingency
- order of arrival
- plant functional groups
- priority effects